Since I’ve Been Gone*

It seems only natural that once I started to work from home, with my only company being coworkers over the computer and a rather gassy beagle, I should start to reach other for other forms of interaction. I mean, preferably interaction that doesn’t involve wearing pants with zippers and makeup, because I am really enjoying not needing those in my day-to-day existence.

Oh, I’m sorry, what? You’re questioning the over-a-year gap in my posting? Well, uh, I was hoping to just gloss right over that and pick up where we left off. I feel like that’s just more entertaining than a litany of “my job this” and “our house that” and ugh bored.

Obviously I never really stopped using some of the forms of social media that require less time and commitment and forming of complete sentences.

However, I did come across a number of books that I reeeeeally enjoyed, and figured that would be as good a thing as any to discuss as I come out of semi-blogtirement.

Stephanie Perkins absolutely NAILS the breathless feeling of your first love. I will admit to being totally shallow and loving Anna and Isla more than Lola, just because of their setting of a Parisian boarding school- how can you not win with starlit walks around Paris and jaunts to other European countries? Perkins also addresses young women and their sexuality in a responsible, matter-of-fact way. These aren’t exactly a series, but contain some overlapping characters which feels like meeting up with old friends.

I’m not going to lie- I wasn’t the first to jump on the Rainbow Rowell bandwagon. I read “Attachments” years ago and just wasn’t knocked out by it. Fangirl completely converted me. The story of Cath and Wren, twins who attend the same rural college and write Simon Snow (think Harry Potter) fanfiction on their spare time, was the logical next step after a trio of high-school-themed romances. I’m not remotely sorry that my alma-mater seemed to creep into my head as the perfect setting for this story. Every note of this freshman-year story of growth and finding out where you belong was pitch perfect to me. Now I can’t wait to read “Eleanor and Park” and “Landline.”

Two words: Female Assassin. Are you hooked yet? Because “Throne of Glass”, “Crown of Midnight” and “Heir of Fire” had me completely sucked into the story of Celaena Sardothien, the most deadly assassin in Adarlan. There’s romance, plenty of intrigue, magic and one of the most butt-kicking heroines that YA has ever seen. (Sorry Katniss, it’s true.) If you haven’t read them yet, it’s the perfect time to join in. The fourth book, “Queen of Shadows” is due out in September, and Sarah J Maas has written another book “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” which is the beginning of a NEW series that comes out in may. Also I think she never sleeps. These are also great if you love big books (and you cannot lie. Sorry. I had to. Now I’m embarrassed. Moving on-), with the shortest being 404 pages.

Listen, if you follow me on Twitter you know that I am sliiiightly passionate about these books. Passionate enough to first coerce friends into reading them (Here’s looking at you, Chris) and then BADGER THE CRAP OUT OF THEM when they disagree with me. #TeamMustang

I originally sold “Red Rising” to him via Twitter as “Hunger Games on steroids from the male perspective.” Chris agrees, but thinks that I should add “meth” in there somewhere.

Darrow is a miner born of the lowest caste of humans on Mars, the reds. He and his family spend their lives under the surface of the planet helping to terraform Mars for eventual human occupation. Or to they’ve been told.

A series of dramatic events forces Darrow onto a path that he could never have imagined, fighting for his life and the legacy of his wife, Eo. These books are a high-drama space opera, with hints of mythology and epic battles that even I’m sucked into. Plus, Pierce Brown has a Twitter account and will get involved in your fan arguments if you’re annoying enthusiastic enough.

So… there’s just a taste of what I’ve been up to in the past year and some change. Thanks for bearing with me as I warm up the old blog-thing again and get used to sending little thoughts out into the void.

(Ps- all links are to Amazon and not affiliate. I don’t gain anything from sending you there.)